Hixon Zuercher LLC Purchases Shares of 8,983 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS)

Hixon Zuercher LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,479,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Zoetis in the fourth quarter valued at $824,321,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Zoetis by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,958,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,755,000 after buying an additional 3,059,255 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in Zoetis during the first quarter worth $339,111,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Zoetis by 14,731.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,759,285 shares of the company's stock worth $289,666,000 after buying an additional 1,747,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Zoetis in the 4th quarter valued at $196,651,000. Institutional investors own 92.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zoetis news, EVP Roxanne Lagano sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $110,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,129 shares in the company, valued at $2,571,930. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Zoetis Stock Performance

Shares of Zoetis stock traded up $3.14 on Tuesday, reaching $159.09. 3,926,550 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,566,631. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $160.58 and a 200 day moving average of $162.36. Zoetis Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.70 and a 52 week high of $200.33.

Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Zoetis had a return on equity of 55.48% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Zoetis Inc. will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Zoetis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Zoetis's payout ratio is currently 35.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ZTS. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Zoetis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Zoetis from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Zoetis from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Zoetis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.13.

Zoetis Profile

Zoetis Inc engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of animal health medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services in the United States and internationally. The company commercializes products primarily across species, including livestock, such as cattle, swine, poultry, fish, and sheep and others; and companion animals comprising dogs, cats, and horses.